Persona - Mirror Image
by FuyuSeishin12
Summary: Think of it as a story change Fic or something for P5 when it comes out. It features a different concept and completely different characters (all are OCs me and a friend made up). This story revolves around the concept of, "which is the real me?" With mirrors being the entrance to a new shadow world for the new characters to try and destroy the facades built by those around them.
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

Fuyu(Author): By the way the MC is female.

**Chapter 1: Arrival**

Look in the mirror, what do you see? Is it you? Or is it some facade imposed upon you by your 'friends' or 'family'? It's a question I ask myself as I always did long ago while on the train to my old home town, Taisha, a growing town nearby Izumo. Gazing out the window, I watch the world speed by while pondering such things. Getting bored of thinking about that subject, I grab a book from my bak to read as I eventually fell asleep. As I slept I find myself in a strange dream finding myself in a room full of mirrors. Each mirror is different in image instead of seeing my own reflection but the memory of such escapes me when I wake up to the conductor heralding arrival at my stop. Grabbing my rolling luggage bag and sticking my book back into my backpack, I got off at the station. After exiting the station, I find myself welcomed by a seemingly familiar-looking energetic girl. Her dark hair is short and a little messy but long enough for a small ponytail. Her skin is slightly tanned and her eyes are olive green. Her outfit is just a simple white blouse, a pair of shorts and a pair of hightop sneakers.

"Oh! You're here," She said as she ran up to me, "You probably don't remember me since it's been so long. I'm your cousin, Naika Odagari, we'll be going to the same school."

"It's been a while," I say to her, "You've changed quite a lot."

"You do remember," She says joyfully, "But, yeah I think I have changed but to some people here, there's no difference."

"How so," I ask her.

"Eh...They say I'm still very overprotective and... kind of a delinquent," She says with some hesitation.

"Delinquent," I say, "Why?"

"Remember when I still started fights with people who picked on you for your dark red hair," She asks as I nod, she dyed her hair my color in support during that time, "Well I still kinda do fight but not as often," She sighs, "I guess my rep is not as good as it was long ago."

"Well aren't you going to do something about it," I ask her.

"I don't think it's healthy to go against their thoughts about me," Naika says, "Besides It would take a bit of a while to try to convince them I'm not that, anymore."

'I guess that part of her didn't change,' I think to myself and I say out loud, "So, where to? Your apartment?"

"Yep," She says, "I just visited my parents' graves so I could just go straight there now."

"I just got news of that," I say, "I'm sorry I missed their funeral."

"It's alright, Cousin," She says with a smile as we walk over to her apartment. Along the way, we heard some housewives gossiping.

One with short hair said to her friend, "How, did you hear? There have been strange things happening."

"What is it now," Her friend asked her, "Something about the local shrine again?"

"No! There's news of kids disappearing," The woman said, "No one knows what happened but the families of such kids say they've last seen their kids in front of a mirror."

"Really!? How does that even happen," The friend says completely in shock.

"My son has been mentioning a certain 'ritual' but I don't know the details," The short haired woman said.

As we were out of earshot Naika looks at me as she says, "There's a little ritual I've heard the freshmen talk about. Apparently you need a large mirror like a bathroom or vanity mirror. It's supposed to be midnight and you have to say a certain phrase and you must stare into your reflection's eyes. They say that the ritual is done when you see your image distort and change into an outer version of yourself. I think it's like self-examination or something. Apparently, some students came up missing but others say they feel the presence or 'see' empty versions of said students."

"That's preposterous," I say, "It's probably that they've come out with Apathy or something and got lost."

"This has been happening for some time now," Naika argued as we approached the apartment's doors, "I swear there's something strange happening in town," As we walked in she turns to me, "I'll take your bags to your room, you could relax here and call me when your boxes arrive."

"Okay," I say as I hand her my carry on luggage. As she walked away, everything suddenly turned dark saturating the world in monochrome and a tall, curvy woman with long white hair in a ponytail, large golden eyes and wearing a blue sort of flight attendant uniform appears.

"Hello," the strange woman said with a smile, "I see you've finally arrived, pleased to meet you."

"Um, hello," I say to her as she proffers a clipboard with a sort of contract on it.

"Please sign this, before you continue," She says removing the plastic front, "Upon signing this, you'll be taking full responsibility for your actions, henceforth."

As a pen appeared in my hand, I just signed it without question, Last name: Kaindo, First name: Enba. The pen disappeared after I finished signing.

"No turning back now, for you have quite a situation coming," The woman said, "I'll be seeing you again soon." She disappears and the world around me turned to normal. Shaking that off, I decide to take a seat in one of the lobby benches as the mover knocked on the door.

"Oh," I say as I decide to go and tell my cousin, "The stuff is here. What's my room number?"

"It's floor 2 room 02 next to mine," She says back as I tell the movers where the luggage goes. In a few minutes my boxes are at my door.

"Not really much, huh," She comments.

"Yeah," I say, "Dad didn't get me much. Mostly school supplies a few changes of clothes, some cheap appliances and some personal things I got from you and from Mom before she died."

"I see, I guess your father really wants you out of the house," She says grimly but her mood does a 180 as she says, "Well, anyways, let's unpack."

"By the way," I say before she opened my door, "something weird happened-"

"No need to talk about it," Naika cuts me off, "Keep it to yourself." She fishes out a keycard and places it against the door's sensor and unlocks it, "There you go. Welcome to your new home for the foreseeable future."

"Okay," I say as she hands me the key card and helps me with carrying the boxes inside. The apartment is spacious compared to others I've seen. A lightly equipped kitchen with microwave, bathroom, toilet, small bedroom and a living room. The flooring is of traditional tatami and wood flooring in some areas. The currently bare walls are just drywall that's been painted beige. There's a low table in the living room with cushions surrounding it with a flat-screen TV connected to a DVR under it. The bedroom has a smaller TV, a bed with a nightstand next to it and a desk off to the side in front of the window. In front of me past the kitchen is a sliding glass door that leads out to a balcony and clothesline. To my right, is just a generic shoe rack with a sort of log sheet on top of it. So, this will be my home for a while. I guess I should get used to this as well as meet some of the neighbors.

We then spent the afternoon unpacking boxes and putting stuff where they should be. We had various kitchen appliances like a toaster and a blender going to the kitchen as it was lacking in those. Then we put some basic bathroom appliances like hairdryer and straightener. The clothes were hung in the closet, which included my school uniform from my old high school in Tokyo. After that, we hung family pictures and a few posters on the walls to decorate them. With that business done, Naika heads out after offering to help when needed since she's next door.

I'm now alone in my apartment and it's almost 7 PM. So I just changed into some simple nightwear, t shirt and shorts, and called it a night. In my dream, I hear a voice and called into a blue door. Once through, I find myself sitting at in a sort of luxury plane. The place is covered or painted in blue velvet. Outside is darkness outside the windows. There are seats lining the sides with one side being cut off mid row by a drink cabinet. Across from me sits an old, balding, skinny man wearing a suit with a long, impish nose leering at me with wide eyes over steepled, skinny fingers supported by his elbows over a table. Next to him sits that same woman I saw at the lobby.

The old man spoke to me, his voice raspy, clear yet a little creepy, "Welcome."


	2. Chapter 2: Velvet and Mirrors

**Chapter 2: Velvet and Mirrors**

Huh? I was asleep but now I'm here... That stopped me, where IS here? The thin man's voice broke my thoughts, "Do not be alarmed, you are still sound asleep in your bed."

"O-okay..." I say to him as I calm down in my chair.

"It's been a long time since we've had a guest here," The man says, "And you have a rather unique fate." He gestures to himself, "My name is Igor, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Before I ask him about where exactly am I at, he spoke for me as though reading my mind.

"This is a place between dream and reality," He began, "Mind and matter. It is a place where only those who are bound by a CONTRACT and through this, they have to abide by it." In front of him appeared the contract I signed and he continued, "Upon signing the contract, hencefourth, you must take full responsibility of your actions."

Thinking for a bit weather I ask any questions, I simply say, "I see."

"Ah, I almost forgot to introduce my assistant," He says and gestures to the woman next to him, "This is Isabella, she's a resident here like myself."

"Nice to meet you," Isabella says bowing her head.

"Now," Igor says, "Hold on to this." A key appears and floats down into my lap and I take it as he continues, "The next time you arrive it will be of your own free will, until we meet again..." My vision fades to black as I feel my eyelids being hammered by sunlight.

Sitting up, I yawn feeling strange about the dream. Nevertheless, I have to go to school. I grab my new uniform and quickly put it on. Grabbing some breakfast, I hear a knock on my door. I walked over to answer it to see Naika in a similar school uniform beeming at me. "Mornin' cousin! Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," I say pushing the dream out of my head for now as I continue, "Is it time to head for school?"

"Not yet," She says with a quick shake of the head, "We're still half an hour early so I came to see how you're doing, thankfully we're close to school."

"What's the school's name, again," I ask as I let her in to join me for breakfast.

"Sakakuta academy," She says, "It's pretty big, you have probably seen it from the train station."

I recall the huge, pearly white structure I seen reminds me of when I visited Gekkoukan High with my dad on a business thing, "Oh, that building what kind of school is it?"

"It houses classes from grade school to Freshman College," Naika says as we eat, "It's pretty huge, but in reality, it's a bunch of sections connected by monorails, lifts and catwalks."

"That's it," I ask as I finish up my breakfast.

"Pretty much," She says, "All separate buildings have a student principal but it's centered around a head principal. For some reason, he won't show his face, odd... anyways, now that you're done eating, let's head out."

I simply nod and pick up my bag and follow Naika out the door. We had to take a ride on the city bus, which wasn't too bad as the stop put us very close to our school. Walking the rest of the way, seeing the school up close was quite imposing, the monorails make it look like it's all held in place by rings. The three buildings are large as well and spaced pretty far apart in a neat circle, which adds to the need for monorails. Naika explained that the railways are nice and fast but it's recommended to walk or take the lifts unless you have free time to go to wherever you want since due to their circular arrangement on the outside of the buildings, it all depends on where you are.

I note that in my head as we head to the high school/freshman college building marked A3. In front of it is a large board covered in what I assume to be class assignments confirmed by the many students crowding around to take a look. Various students are despairing or celebrating as they found the classes they are in. Amongst the crowd a hand raised and waved at us the owner of the hand called, "Hey! Nai-chan! We re in the same class!"

"Really?" Naika called back, "Awesome! Come over here, I want you to meet someone!"

"Is it a new boyfriend," The friend called sounding suspicious.

"No way," Naika called back, "Just come over here!"

Amongst the crowd, there was some bustle and pushing as a guy comes out of the crowd dusting off his uniform. His hair is layered and almost perfectly down save for some strands as he walks up to us.

"Before you say anything, Saa-kun," Naika says gesturing to me, "Lemme introduce her. This is my cousin, Enba Kaindo, from my Ma's side."

The boy looked at me as though sizing me up and he eventually says, "So, this is her? You've been talking about her a lot. I found your name on a note in our class," 'Saa-kun' extended his hand, "Nice to meet you, I'm Saika Aisano."

I decide to shake his proffered hand and say, "Nice to meet you too."

"Pretty and polite," Saika says and says to Naika, "You should learn from your cousin, Nai-chan."

"Shut up," She says curtly turning towards the front doors, "Let's go in, then."

"Same old, Naika," Saika says as he turns to me, "Was she always like this when you two were kids?"

"Absolutely," I say as we follow Naika into the , "So how did you two become friends?"

"I had just got out of Judo when I saw her getting in a fight with a group of jerks during junior high," Saika began, "I basically helped beat them up and we've been friends since then."

I feel a weird grin on my face as I ask, "Do you LIKE her?"

"What do you mean by that," Saika says keeping up a stone defense, "I like her as a friend but that's it."

We just left it at that as we walk down the pristine halls catching up with my cousin. Along the walls were the occasional corkboards covered in announcements and club advertisements. Even when so far advanced, we are still using these.

We walk into a class marked 2-C which had plenty of students talking it up as they waited for their teacher. We walked in and took our seats. I sit behind Naika who's in the 3rd row closest to the front right next to the window. Saika happens to find a seat across from me to my right as we waited and traded some small talk about those mysteries. As the teacher walked in, everyone fell silent and sat properly. She seemed clumsy in her words, "S-sorry I'm late, kids."

"Oh boy," Saika whispers, "we got Ms. Namao."

By his tone of voice, I could tell he seems to like this teacher. As quiet whispers went around as she nervously got her things organized. When she was finished, she cleared her throat as she began with a gentle smile, "W-well, welcome t-to your first day of classes, everyone. For those who don't know me, I'm Ms. Namao, I teach w-world history."

The way she stumbled over her words almost made me feel sorry for her as she then proceaded to her first lecture. Clumsy at first, she was able to teach her lecture despite the difficulty. By the time class went for lunch break, we hurried to the food stand to quickly grab some pastries and sandwiches. Heading back, to class we began hearing of rumors of that mirror ritual I heard the other day. "They're still talking about that," Saika asks just before he took a bite of yakisoba bread.

"Seems so," Naika says, "En-chan has just learned about it."

"Are you gonna try it," Saika says to me, "I've heard things like this have caused people to disapear."

"It's probably superstition," I say, "I'll prove it to you."

"Eh? Really," Saika asks, "I was gonna try it as well."

"Well..." Naika says, "I got nothin' better to do so why not? I have a big ol' vanity mirror in my room so why not we try it tonight?"

"Alright," Saika says with an anticipating grin, "We'll all meet at the appartment, wait until midnight and recite the ritual." We all agreed as the next class begins. The next class was complete algebra a bit of a bore but I managed to stay awake as I feel much smarter.

The classes soon went by as the three of us headed to the appartmeents together as we agreed to do. I personally began to feel strange glances towards us and asked, "Um... are any of you two popular?"

"Being the next Judo captain is quite something," Saika says with a wry smile as he points to his face, "especially with this face. It kinda hurts to reject so many girls," He then leans in to whisper, "She hasn't been admitted it but Nai-chan seems pretty jealous whenever a girl tries to ask me out

I raise an eyebrow at this information but brushed it off as we take the ride to the apartment. The ride felt quicker than this morning despite the streets teeming with activity from other students leaving. Upon arrival, we headed straight up the steps to Naika's room. Lo and behold, the mirror is there almost eerily. Its apparent old age made it seem creepier. "W-well," Saika says hesitantly, "Who's gonna start?"

"I'll go," I say as I feel braver, "It's just a simple ritual, right?" With that, we waited until a few minutes before midnight and I began the ritual. Saika told me before this so I remember. "This image is not me," I recite, "Come hither, my true self. Break down the facade I see."

We waited a few moments and we thought it was nothing and then... "Thou art I for I am thou," A voice calls as a hand reached out and grabbed me. Both Saika and Naika grabbed me but it was futile as we were both sucked in...


End file.
